The Last Exorcism Part II Blu-ray review

Actors: Ashley Bell, Julia Garner, Spencer Treat Clark, David Jensen, Tarra Riggs

Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly

Writers: Ed Gass-Donnelly, Andrew Gurland, Damien Chazelle, Huck Botko

Producers: Eli Roth, Eric Newman, Gabrielle Neimand

Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: June 18, 2013

Run Time: 88 minutes

        The only way I can think to review a film like this is by directing it at the type of people who enjoyed the first film. I myself don’t enjoy supernatural horror, including exorcism films, as much as I do other sub-genres, so I was not the target audience for a film like this. I can understand preference playing into most people’s choice in watching a film like this, but even without enjoying them I am able to appreciate which are well made and which are not. I was surprised by the effectiveness of certain elements of The Last Exorcism: Part II, and under-whelmed by the rest. Despite a few sincerely eerie moments and a creative reinventing of the franchise’s format, this sequel is more forgettable than not.

 

        The first film utilized the found footage format from a fake documentary crew traveling to perform a fake exorcism on a girl whose family claims her to be possessed. This sweet backwater girl named Nell Sweeter (Ashley Bell) returns after the carnage at the close of the first film, surviving without any hint of her former demonic possession. After being sent to a group home, Nell becomes convinced that the entire incident was merely a hallucination of her mind, until the truth is revealed.

 

        We are no longer in the found footage format in this sequel, but this doesn’t necessarily make any of the possession material any less harrowing. Unfortunately, there is far too much of an attempt at a complex back-story. By the time we begin dealing with the demon possession, it is difficult to care about what is happening. There is not a clear enough villain or victim in this franchise to ensure repeat sequels. There is a reason everyone remembers The Exorcist and very few have seen its many sequels.

 

        The Blu-ray release includes a digital copy of the film, as well as a number of special features which are exclusive to this disc. There is a featurette about Nell’s story and a commentary with producer Eli Roth and director Ed Gass-Donnelly which can only be found on the Blu-ray release. There is also a featurette about the films setting in New Orleans.

Entertainment Value: 3/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 5/10

Historical Significance: 2/10

Disc Features: 7/10